


On the Eve

by TatsuKitty



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, Awkwardness, Gen, Hale fire, Humor, If You Squint - Freeform, Kate is awful, M/M, Pre-Slash, highschool, i'm not even sorry, yeah it's an overdone trope
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-14
Updated: 2014-09-14
Packaged: 2018-02-17 09:40:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2305151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TatsuKitty/pseuds/TatsuKitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Scott may have wanted to be popular but stiles had honestly always been ok where he was. He enjoyed making his nerdy jokes and the yearly competition with Lydia Martin for the best grades. He was a pretty solid benchwarmer for the lacrosse team which helped him avoid the ire of most of the meathead jocks from the upper classes. He was pretty content in his skin. Which, admittedly, was probably a weird place to be for a high school student but it worked for him.  He was friends with whomever he wanted, regardless of if liked him or not and tried to keep Scott from killing himself to get the new biology substitute teacher’s niece to notice him.  This is why when--basketball and baseball star, overall jock, and hottie with a glare that could strip the paint off his jeep from thirty yards--Derek Hale asks him out he just laughs. He cracked up in his face and patted the upperclassman on the shoulder before he walked off while still chuckling.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On the Eve

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah high school au! It's so overdone but I had it in my head. It's not really very sterek-y, almost more gen or unrequited though Stiles obviously finds Derek attractive.

Scott may have wanted to be popular but stiles had honestly always been ok where he was. He enjoyed making his nerdy jokes and the yearly competition with Lydia Martin for the best grades. He was a pretty solid benchwarmer for the lacrosse team which helped him avoid the ire of most of the meathead jocks from the upper classes. He was pretty content in his skin. Which, admittedly, was probably a weird place to be for a high school student but it worked for him. He was friends with whomever he wanted, regardless of if liked him or not and tried to keep Scott from killing himself to get the new biology substitute teacher’s niece to notice him. This is why when--basketball and baseball star, overall jock, and hottie with a glare that could strip the paint off his jeep from thirty yards--Derek Hale asks him out he just laughs. He cracked up in his face and patted the upperclassman on the shoulder before he walked off while still chuckling. 

Stiles doesn’t have any illusions about what he looks like, ok? He’s lean and has a bit of muscle under his love of layers. He’s got a funny upturned nose and moles (his mother had always called them beauty marks but he’s a GUY ok) and boring dark brown eyes and hair and pouty girl lips. Real paragon of manhood here.

Heh. Manhood. 

Anyway.

Derek Hale, however, was already fighting off a perpetual amount of stubble. He had these weird, multicolor eyes and jet black hair that made them look even brighter in his tan face. Yeah, his resting face could send small children into tears of terror but his smile… His smile did something weird to his face. Panties magically disintegrated under the force of that smile. Which really shouldn’t have been a thing because his face scrunched up like a troll and he had way too many dimples and little bunny teeth and it was fucking adorable. Stiles felt like he had been punched in the stomach with fluffy kittens the only time that smile had been directed at him full force because Cora had been behind him.   
On top of the grumpy cat version of male model he had going on, there were the muscles. His muscles had muscles. It was enough to give any red-blooded male questions about his sexuality. (Ones stiles answered for himself. Several times. Don’t judge.) He looked somewhere around 23 when Stiles knew he was going to turn 18 at Christmas. That had to be some kind of cosmic joke, making the hottest guy in school every year’s Christmas present. His family was also gigantic. His older sister Laura had left in Stiles’ freshman year with a legendary senior prank. It involved goats! GOATS! Where did she even get goats?! 

Ahem. 

Cora was in some of Stiles’ classes and not nearly as prone to being a real life Weasley twin as Laura had been. She went more the route of soul rending resting bitch face like her brother and hit the Goth phase like it was going to hit back. Hey, when you looked like you put human hearts in your cookies without trying, you might as well, right?   
In any case, the date proposal (a cheesy wanna come study wink wink while dribbling his basketball) was obviously a total joke, thus laughter. He was still chortling under his breath as he made his way into bio and totally missed Derek’s dejected, heartbroken stare as he took his seat.   
Ms. Argent flat out gave stiles the creeps. She was a blond bombshell and wore frankly inappropriate tops. She obviously never learned the bend check his mom had done when she was still teaching pre-dementia is what he’s saying. He’s way too acquainted with her cleavage. It’s pretty gross. She had the seriously unfortunate habit of leaning over the desk of anyone who asked questions. Naturally, several boys took advantage of that and adored her. She just gave him a really hinky feeling. Something wasn’t right there. It was like that Dhaeler kid who got busted selling upskirts and locker room pics of the girls from school. He schooled his face into a carefully blank look (no disgust here, totally innocent ma’am) as she leaned over and simpered at Derek while she stroked a hand slowly down his bicep. 

Creeper.

******* 

He was in the middle of a heated argument with Lydia over the merits of regular Latin versus archaic Latin when he caught Derek just staring at him again. He let out an exasperated sigh. It had taken years to get Lydia to admit she was a ridiculous genus as well as a beautiful fashion goddess who was possibly going to take over the world. It had done surprisingly little to lessen his adoration but had totally warped it to a weird flirtatious feeling that her boyfriend absolutely hated. Of course, that just made it ten times more fun for them. Derek taking a leaf from Ms. Argent and being a stellar creeper was going to put a damper on that. Lydia was starting to get uncomfortable already. She always hated when people stared at her while she was being smart. She was rapidly clicking a pen when she didn’t usually have extra movement while thinking. It was one of her tells. He half stomped over to Derek. 

“Dude. You are like mouth breathing in our general direction. Don’t you have some sports to play and people to wink at or drop cheesy date proposals on? Shoo!” He gave a flailing approximation of a shoo motion and was rewarded with Derek flushing hotly in shame.

“I was just—“

“Drooling over your friend’s girl,” he interrupted. “Pretty shitty, dude. I don’t wanna hear it!” he rolled his eyes and held up a palm at Derek’s surprised and baffled face. He backed up rapidly when the guy sniffed at him. Freaky. He skittered towards Lydia and received a pat on the shoulder for his heroics. She followed it up with a blistering, soul searing lecture about Why He Was An Idiot In Seventeen Parts re: Archaic Latin. 

He loved her so much. 

*********

The next few months passed in a sea of Ms. Argent stepping up her bad touching. She seemed particularly fixated on Derek now. Stiles started listing it down just in case. He really hoped there wouldn’t be an in case.   
Lydia and Jackson broke up and go back together, making his life endless re-watches of the notebook with chocolate on chocolate ice cream before the return of the relationship. Danny refused to answer if Stiles was attractive to gay guys, and Scott’s asthma waged a wheezing, blue lipped war on life in autumn.   
That is how he found himself alone on Halloween.  
Halloween was a dangerous time of candy and bad health at the police station. Caramel apples for days in between masked assholes looting or stabbing each other and cookies until Thanksgiving. 

Stiles was going to save his dads health if it killed the both of them. 

He was in the middle of dumping carefully cling wrapped cookies into the bags every officer that wasn’t his dad when he smelled the smoke. It was followed by a heartbreaking wail of a scream that had him skidding around the corner. 

Laura Hale was clutching his dads waist, almost collapsed to the floor and screaming. Derek was sitting on the floor nearby, eyes huge and leaking tear trails that left pale streaks in the soot on his face. His hands were bright red with blood and burns. Laura was clean, wearing a furry wolf dress, of all things, and screaming at the top of her lungs.  
Every time she gasped for air, Derek winced like the next scream was going to stab him. Stiles skidded closer and touched his left shoulder with tentative, shaking fingers. Derek didn’t seem to notice. 

“Hey…” Stiles murmured and his head snapped around to look up at him. “Your hands look pretty bad. Want some help with them?” Derek just stared, listless, so stiles pulled a bit until he got up. He looped an arm around his shoulders and tugged him towards the bathroom, grabbing the station first aid kit on the way with his spare hand.  
"Here," he said as he gestured to the sink. He turned the tap on and checked that the water was barely lukewarm. He washed his own hands before helping Derek with his, wincing sympathetically at the burns. "These are pretty gnarly. You might want to go to the hospital."

“No.” Derek croaked, tenor rasping and raw. 

“Alright, but it would suck if you couldn’t hold a bat anymore.” 

“I’ll be fine.” He all but whispered and looked regretful. 

“You wanna talk about it?” Stiles asked carefully. Derek shook his head slowly. The door burst open, showing his dad who sighed in relief, rushing over to hug stiles. “Whoa, dad it’s ok.” He patted his back. “Just… Derek has some burns on his hands.” His dad’s shoulders shook a bit and he pulled back, placing a gentle hand on Derek’s shoulder. He looked like someone ripped his heart out.   
“I’m sorry for your loss, son.” He murmured quietly. Derek hiccupped like he swallowed a sob and nodded slowly. “Your sister is giving a statement and taking custody of you.”   
Stiles stomach dropped to the floor and shattered. He sent a wild, confused look to his dad, who minutely shook his head.   
“Just come to my office after you’re done.” He patted Derek and Stiles both before heaving another sigh and going to finish his job. Stiles gently smeared burn cream over Derek’s palms.   
“It’s all my fault.” Derek murmured and then repeated it over and over, crushing his eyes shut and shaking.   
“No. Derek stop. Don’t do that to yourself.” Stiles rubbed a thumb over the unburnt skin of Derek’s wrist.   
“It is. I… I told how to.. I told her…”  
“Told who? Told her what?” Stiles asked quietly, gently wrapping gauze over the burn cream. Derek didn’t even seem to hear him, just shook his head and sniffled. Stiles moved to his left palm next, frowning softly in concern. “It’s going to be ok, Derek. Just take some deep breaths.”  
“They’re all dead. All of them. It’s just me and Laura.” Derek seemed to collapse into himself. Stiles felt like he was kicked in the stomach.   
“What?”  
“My house burned down. My whole family was inside. They couldn’t get out. I tried to…” He gestured helplessly with his hands and Stiles fought the stars at the edge of his vision. Cora was dead? Their little siblings? His parents? His dads bone crushing hug made more sense now, but stiles didn’t know how to soothe Derek’s hurt.   
How do you ease pain like that? It was every nightmare wrapped into one. His whole life went up in flames.   
“It’s not your fault, Derek. I…my mom died. I thought it was my fault too. But… It’s not. And it’s not your fault if it’s not mine.” 

Derek…snarled. His eyes went bright gold and there was a sharp pain when he grabbed stiles around the elbow. 

“I trusted her. I was just… I wanted to feel better and she… She fucking used me. I told her how to get in my house and she burnt it down!” He growled again and he had fangs. Literal fangs. Stiles kept his breathing smooth and even, even though his heart felt like it might explode. 

“Then you gotta tell my dad. He will find her and she’ll be punished.” He said with a remarkably level voice. Derek seemed to calm at that and then gasped and pulled away from Stiles. He felt a trickle of something down his arm and looked down. 

“Sorry, I’m so sorry, oh god I hurt you!” Derek freaked out and started tugging Stiles’ plaid shirt to get it off. He blinked in confusion and then stared at the holes in the sleeve that matched the scratches in his arm. “Oh.” He said stupidly and looked at them in the mirror. “How did—?” 

“I… I just… ” Derek stumbled and tried to find an explanation where there obviously wasn’t one. Stiles just ignored him and started washing up. “The holes aren’t noticeable when it’s on. No biggie.” He held his elbow up while Derek carefully and clumsily applied the Band-Aids with his own wrapped hands. 

“I’m so sorry, Stiles.” He murmured and stiles just sighed and stepped between his knees to hug him. 

“Forget it for now, man. You had a rough night. We gotta talk about this all later though.” Derek was stiff for a moment before he hugged stiles so hard the air went out of his lungs. He started sobbing into the crook of his neck. Stiles just rocked a little and rubbed his hand up and down his spine. 

Derek tired slowly, his breath ragged and hiccupped out until it went smooth. Stiles felt a bit like his insides were scrubbed raw with sandpaper. He couldn’t even imagine how Derek was still in one piece. 

“Want to go to my dad’s office? I stole all the Halloween candy and cookies. Lydia swears chocolate helps.” He pulled back slowly. Derek looked hollowed out, his eyes dark and sad with swollen lids. Tear tracks streaked through the soot still, so Stiles grabbed some paper towel and cleaned him. Derek didn’t even seem to notice. 

“C’mon, man.” He smoothed Derek’s hair back from his forehead like his mom used to do to him when he was sick. “I know it’s so not ok. But you can’t just give up.” 

“Sorry.” Derek whispered and blinked a bit, coming back into himself. Stiles’ knees went watery with relief. 

“Nothing to be sorry about. Come eat cookies with me and talk to my dad.” 

He received a dull nod in return before Derek slid down off the counter and stumbled for the door. 

Laura was curled up under his dad’s jacket in his office, passed out from exhaustion. Derek gave another shuddering breath when he saw her, so stiles hooked a hand around his elbow so he didn’t grab his injured hands. His heart felt like it was slammed in a door, bent and smashed in the center. 

He tugged Derek over to the cookies and slumped them both against the wall, talking quietly about anything that came to mind, trying to distract Derek. He rambled about how he was watching his father’s health and how Scott was in the hospital, how Lydia was so damn smart, how Danny still didn’t tell him if he was attractive to gay guys or not. 

“Yes.” Derek interrupted before Stiles could rant some more. He blinked owlishly. 

“Yes what?” 

“You’re attractive.” Derek muttered. “Well. I think so, anyway. I did ask you out.” 

“But… but that was a joke. Why else would you ask me out? You winked.” 

“I… got nervous.” He frowned and looked at Stiles. “that’s why you laughed?” 

“I thought you were making fun of me.” He admitted quietly, tearing a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie to pieces. 

“I thought YOU were making fun of ME.” Derek shook his head. “I… really wanted to go out with you.” 

“…not after the laughter, I bet.” 

“Not after she… after tonight. I don’t want to date anyone. Ever. Never again.” He stared at his hands. 

“Derek…. Were you dating whoever did this?” Stiles asked with a sinking feeling down his torso. Derek’s chin quivered as he nodded. “Fuck.” 

“Language.” His dad interrupted in an exhausted voice as he opened the door. “Stealing all my cookies?” he gave a weak imitation of his usual smile.

“Your heart thanks me.” Stiles replied out of habit. “Hey. Derek’s gotta talk to you.” He didn’t check if it was alright first, which made his dad arch a brow and Derek stiffen in panic. 

“About…tonight?” Dad hedged carefully. Derek nodded. 

“Kate Argent set my house on fire.” He admitted. “I… I told her how to get in. She was supposed to… we were supposed to…” he shifted uncomfortably and clenched his hands into fists. 

“…the teacher, Kate Argent?” His dad frowned sharply and Stiles gasped. 

“I.. I have a list that would be relevant here.” He piped up which got him twin odd looks from Derek and his dad. “She bad touched Derek in class. It was like arm stroking and bending so he could see down her shirt and stuff.” 

“You didn’t feel the need to mention this BEFORE?” 

“I didn’t know if she was aware she was doing it or not…it wasn’t just Derek.” He winced a bit. Derek looked like someone hit him in the back of the head with a bat. 

“She…said she loved me. She wanted to date me but I couldn’t tell anyone.” Derek admitted quietly. He kept talking for almost half an hour about how she would take him on dates carefully out of town and wanted to spend more time alone with him in private. They’d agreed on tonight and he’d come home with orange roses to find her laughing in front of the fire and throwing bottles of gasoline to make the blaze hotter. 

Stiles’ dad spoke quickly into his radio after he finished writing down Derek’s statement and got a copy of Stiles’ list from his phone. He grabbed his gun and rushed out of the station before stiles could even ask what he was doing. 

“I assume he’s going to make an arrest. I know it doesn’t make anything better right now, but she’ll be punished. She won’t get away with this.” 

Derek nodded a bit and bit his lip. “Can… can you stay with me? Please?” 

“Yeah, of course, Dude.” He nodded and bumped their shoulders gently. “So… you a vampire? You had some pretty gold eyes for a second there.” 

“Wh—I…You?” He blinked in horror at Stiles. 

“You flashed them in the bathroom before my arms got hurt. By your fingers, which were rather sharp and not very finger like.” 

“We…I… my family was… werewolves.” He all but whispers. Stiles feels a couple puzzle pieces slot into place and then looks at Laura’s dress. 

“Did she really dress up like a wolf?” He rolled his eyes but felt a swoop of delight when Derek gave a half smile. 

“She always dresses as a wolf. She thinks it’s hysterical.”

“So… you guys go full furry or more like Lupin from Potter?” He asks. 

“My mom is a full wolf. She said someday we might learn how.” Derek leaned in, turned so his knees were tucked against Stiles’ side and his chin rested near his shoulder. He frowned in concentration and his face changed, brow morphing and teeth going sharp, extra hair coming out. Stiles couldn’t stop himself before he ran his fingers over the change. Derek blinked bright gold eyes at him and looked confused as his features went back to normal. “you’re not afraid?” 

“If you were going to eat me you would have already. Laura definitely would have eaten someone for giggles if she was going to by now. You’re not really the creature from the black lagoon.” 

“Thanks.” He murmured and leaned more into stiles. 

“It’s no problem, man.” 

They fell asleep like that, waking up when Stiles’ dad came back, shaking his head. 

“We caught her. She’s in custody now. She might get insanity plea and end up at Eichen. She was ranting and raving about werewolves.” He sighed. 

“But she can’t hurt anyone else now.” Stiles reminded him, which made his dad seem a little more calm. 

“yeah, kiddo. Let’s get home.” 

“I promised Derek I would stay.” He shook his head. 

Laura sat up, rubbing her face slowly. Derek whimpered in his sleep and she was across the room soothing him faster than Stiles could blink. 

“How about you both come home with me and Stiles? I have a pull out couch that’s a queen size.” His dad offered. Laura gave him a grateful look and nodded. They piled into the sheriff’s SUV and drove carefully home just as the sun was coming up. 

Halloween was over.


End file.
